1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of sports equipment, and more particularly to equipment for individual practice of hockey shots.
2. Prior Art
In recent years hocky has become an increasingly popular sport in the United States. While the sport is theoretically condusive to outdoor play in the colder regions of the country, the sport in fact is almost always played on artificial ice on indoor rinks specially set up for this purpose, or at least specially marked off as a regulation hockey rink. Even in the colder portions of the country, suitable outdoor rinks are not frequently provided. Natural ice over ponds and the like is generally of low quality and relatively inaccessible, and duration during which natural ice or freezing of outdoor rinks is satisfactory is erratic and highly limited, except perhaps in the most northern areas of the country. Accordingly, both practice and play for ice hockey is confined to indoor rinks of artificial ice which have been set up for this purpose.
It should be noted that many popular sports have very few special requirements with respect to the field or court on which they are played, and accordingly may be practiced and even played almost anywhere. Baseball and football by way of example, require only reasonably level ground for highly beneficial practice with a single field often serving at different times as a field for football, baseball, soccer and track. Basketball may be played on any relatively hard surface by appropriate disposition of the basket and backboard with respect thereto, with both indoor and outdoor locations being used. Ice hockey, on the other hand, has far more limiting requirements with respect to the area in which it may be either played or practiced. The puck is relatively small (approximately 3 inches in diameter) though is quite dense and relatively heavy (approximately 6 ounces). One aspect of the sport is the propulsion of the puck at a high velocity, hopefully in a controlled manner by the hockey stick, with the result that the forces resulting on impact of the puck with an obstacle are very high. Thus the practice or play of the game presents a hazard to unprotected bystanders, and may do substantial damage to windows and the like in an indoor rink unless the rink is specifically set up to be protected against such dangers. Consequently, both practice and play on skating rinks must generally be limited to specific times set aside exclusively for this purpose.
Because of the foregoing limiting requirements on the space used, even for the practice of ice hockey, and the increasing popularity of the sport, there is a great need for some suitable and practical method and apparatus for practicing typical shots used in the play of the game. Any method and apparatus used should reasonably accurately duplicate the characteristics of the puck on ice, and preferably should allow a relatively large number of shots in a reasonable time in a reasonable space so as to provide concentrated, realistic and beneficial practice. In the prior art no apparatus is known for this purpose. Instead it is relatively common to practice using a conventional hockey stick and puck on parking lot surfaces and the like, a less than ideal substitute for a real ice hockey rink. A hockey puck on surfaces of this type experiences considerable friction, thereby not responding as a puck on ice responds, and resulting in relatively rapid deterioration of the puck. If a particular shot encourages the puck onto its side into a rolling motion, the puck may roll for great distances to the frustration and fatigue of the individual attempting to practice. Even without rolling, the distance traveled by the puck during a practice shot would be sufficient to grossly limit the extent of practice that may be achieved in a reasonable time.